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Song Parodies -> "Oklahoma City Rhapsody"
Original Song Title:
"Bohemian Rhapsody"
(MP3)Original Performer:
Queen
Parody Song Title:
"Oklahoma City Rhapsody"
Parody Written by:
The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
The Lyrics
Since Queen’s 1975 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY is getting a SECOND resurrection, the first one due to its re-release upon Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991 and inclusion in the 1992 film WAYNE’S WORLD, and the current one (2018) from the release of the eponymous biopic of Freddie Mercury and the rest of Queen, I figured it was time for me to resurrect this one from my Grooveyard of Forgotten Favorites for posting here. As BO-RHAP is about a man facing a death sentence for murder, it was the perfect parody vehicle for the circus surrounding the trial and execution of one of America’s most notorious and unrepentant mass murderers and domestic terrorists when I wrote it in 2001.
Oklahoma City Rhapsody
(to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody)
Is this a solo act?
Or vast conspiracy?
Patriotism?
Or a treasonous heresy?
Target those Feds, kill some of them dead, they’ll see...
I’m just a poor vet
I get no sympathy
Because I couldn’t be a Green Beret,
I will make the gov’ment pay!
Any way the blast blows, doesn’t really matter to me... to me.
Mama, just killed some Feds...
Fertilized a Ryder truck, mixed in diesel, then I struck!
Mama, work had just begun
And now I’ve gone and blown ’em all away!
Mama, oohh oohh-a-OOPS!
Didn’t mean to kill those kids...
But that’s okay, they’re just collateral damage,
Carry on, carry on,
As if nothing really happened.
Too late, the building’s gone,
Glass slivers severing spines, bodies crushed like grapes for wine.
Too bad, everybody, you had to go!
Had to pay the price for Weaver and Koresh.
Mama, oohh oohh-a-oohh,
(Any way the blast blows!)
Thought I’d fled from what I did.
Didn’t think that Ryder’d miss their truck at all....
[Guitar solo]
I see black helicopters follow me around!
FBI! ATF! They were all out to get me!
New World Order vision,
Trilateral commission, see!
Janet Reno! Janet Reno!
Janet Reno! Janet Reno!
Janet Reno burned Waco!
Avenge Waco-o-o-o-o!
I’m just a poor boy, nobody loves me!
We’re bleeding hearts, we oppose all death penalty!
Spare him his life, despite his atrocity!
He is scum! Even so,
Will you let him go?
Bismillah! NO!
We will not let you go! (Let him go!)
Bismillah!
We will not let you go! (Let him go!)
Bismillah!
We will not let you go! (Let him go!)
We will not let you go! (Let him go!)
We will not let you go! (Let him go!)
No! No! No! No! No! No! No!
Mama mia! Mama mia! Mama mia! Let him go!
In Terre Haute, there’s a needle put aside for him... for him... for him!
[Head-banging instrumental]
So you weirdos from PETA think you’ll spit in my eye!
Force my meals to be all vegan before I die!
’Cause of those babies!
Well, I’d still kill those babies!
That’s the word to get out!
That’s how I wanna check out, loud and clear!
Nothing really happened, any fool can see!
Nothing really happened ’cause of me!
Any way the blast blows....
***
End notes:
BO-RHAP hit the charts during my Sophomore year in college and was an acquired taste over the months that it was played on the radio and on my fellow dorm residents’ turntables and cassette decks. I was amazed and amused at a family gathering in 1992 when several of my nephews and nieces, all of whom were born after 1975, started singing it and knew the lyrics better than I did.
For those of you too young to remember:
In 1995, a small domestic anti-government terrorist group blew up the Federal office building in Oklahoma City, by packing a rented Ryder truck with explosives made of fertilizer and diesel. The group members were tracked down and caught by the VIN number of the remains of the truck. As there was a day care center for employees in the building, there were several children among the 168 killed and 684 wounded.
The bombing was ostensibly in retaliation for excessive deadly force by Federal agents in two imcidents: during an attempt to arrest Randy Weaver of Ruby Ridge, Idaho on illegal weapons charges, which resulted in the deaths of Weaver’s wife and son, and an FBI agent; and for the burning down of the compound of the Branch Davidian religious splinter group led by David Koresh resulting in the death of Koresh and 75 of his followers in Waco, Texas. (Janet Reno was the Attorney General of the US at the time.)
The members of the terror group were tried separately. The individual who parked the bomb truck was convicted and sentenced to death. One accomplice was given 161 consecutive life sentences. A third who helped scout the building but claimed ingnorance of the actual bombing, turned state’s evidence for a reduced charge and served 12 years.
As the execution became certain, members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) petitioned to have the bomber put on a vegan only diet for the remainder of his life so that no animals would be sacrificed to feed him.
The bomber remained unrepentant and, shortly before his execution by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Facility in Terre Haute, Indiana in 2001, said that his only regret was that he didn’t succeed in bringing the entire building down.
(to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody)
Is this a solo act?
Or vast conspiracy?
Patriotism?
Or a treasonous heresy?
Target those Feds, kill some of them dead, they’ll see...
I’m just a poor vet
I get no sympathy
Because I couldn’t be a Green Beret,
I will make the gov’ment pay!
Any way the blast blows, doesn’t really matter to me... to me.
Mama, just killed some Feds...
Fertilized a Ryder truck, mixed in diesel, then I struck!
Mama, work had just begun
And now I’ve gone and blown ’em all away!
Mama, oohh oohh-a-OOPS!
Didn’t mean to kill those kids...
But that’s okay, they’re just collateral damage,
Carry on, carry on,
As if nothing really happened.
Too late, the building’s gone,
Glass slivers severing spines, bodies crushed like grapes for wine.
Too bad, everybody, you had to go!
Had to pay the price for Weaver and Koresh.
Mama, oohh oohh-a-oohh,
(Any way the blast blows!)
Thought I’d fled from what I did.
Didn’t think that Ryder’d miss their truck at all....
[Guitar solo]
I see black helicopters follow me around!
FBI! ATF! They were all out to get me!
New World Order vision,
Trilateral commission, see!
Janet Reno! Janet Reno!
Janet Reno! Janet Reno!
Janet Reno burned Waco!
Avenge Waco-o-o-o-o!
I’m just a poor boy, nobody loves me!
We’re bleeding hearts, we oppose all death penalty!
Spare him his life, despite his atrocity!
He is scum! Even so,
Will you let him go?
Bismillah! NO!
We will not let you go! (Let him go!)
Bismillah!
We will not let you go! (Let him go!)
Bismillah!
We will not let you go! (Let him go!)
We will not let you go! (Let him go!)
We will not let you go! (Let him go!)
No! No! No! No! No! No! No!
Mama mia! Mama mia! Mama mia! Let him go!
In Terre Haute, there’s a needle put aside for him... for him... for him!
[Head-banging instrumental]
So you weirdos from PETA think you’ll spit in my eye!
Force my meals to be all vegan before I die!
’Cause of those babies!
Well, I’d still kill those babies!
That’s the word to get out!
That’s how I wanna check out, loud and clear!
Nothing really happened, any fool can see!
Nothing really happened ’cause of me!
Any way the blast blows....
***
End notes:
BO-RHAP hit the charts during my Sophomore year in college and was an acquired taste over the months that it was played on the radio and on my fellow dorm residents’ turntables and cassette decks. I was amazed and amused at a family gathering in 1992 when several of my nephews and nieces, all of whom were born after 1975, started singing it and knew the lyrics better than I did.
For those of you too young to remember:
In 1995, a small domestic anti-government terrorist group blew up the Federal office building in Oklahoma City, by packing a rented Ryder truck with explosives made of fertilizer and diesel. The group members were tracked down and caught by the VIN number of the remains of the truck. As there was a day care center for employees in the building, there were several children among the 168 killed and 684 wounded.
The bombing was ostensibly in retaliation for excessive deadly force by Federal agents in two imcidents: during an attempt to arrest Randy Weaver of Ruby Ridge, Idaho on illegal weapons charges, which resulted in the deaths of Weaver’s wife and son, and an FBI agent; and for the burning down of the compound of the Branch Davidian religious splinter group led by David Koresh resulting in the death of Koresh and 75 of his followers in Waco, Texas. (Janet Reno was the Attorney General of the US at the time.)
The members of the terror group were tried separately. The individual who parked the bomb truck was convicted and sentenced to death. One accomplice was given 161 consecutive life sentences. A third who helped scout the building but claimed ingnorance of the actual bombing, turned state’s evidence for a reduced charge and served 12 years.
As the execution became certain, members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) petitioned to have the bomber put on a vegan only diet for the remainder of his life so that no animals would be sacrificed to feed him.
The bomber remained unrepentant and, shortly before his execution by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Facility in Terre Haute, Indiana in 2001, said that his only regret was that he didn’t succeed in bringing the entire building down.
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User Comments
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The kids became intrigued by Bo-Rhap because of the scene in the first Wayne's World (came out in '92) where Wayne and Garth rock out to that song while cruising around in a car. I know my own lil' ones LOVED that scene. Michael Myers had a huge hand in reviving interest in that song
VWRC, thanks for posting it, great work--educational, with just the right amount of irreverence (you can't get away with that with a 9/11-themed parody, I think). Thank you for the recapitulation of the story in your end notes, it is something that I lived through but didn't really understand. The "Bismillah" section, although verbatim from the OS, worked well for the context--I don't think a good, tasteful sub could have been made on those words.
I still miss Rob, this informative parody reminds me of his work! fine job!
Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols set up at gun shows in Kansas City and Topeka. I thought they looked familiar when I saw them on TV. Nichols, if that was him, was selling ammonium nitrate in one pound tubs. Weird.
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